


everything has changed (when we were young)

by saiditallbefore



Category: Little Women Series - Louisa May Alcott
Genre: Childhood Friends, Costumes, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Holidays, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-26 08:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20739557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiditallbefore/pseuds/saiditallbefore
Summary: Josie sniffed.  “I’ve decided you have the right of it.  I’m not going to get married at all.”Nan gave a sharp nod.  “Good for you.  More women should put their careers first.”Josie wasn’t sure that’s what she’d meant, but it seemed close enough.Nan and Josie, throughout the seasons.





	everything has changed (when we were young)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ashling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashling/gifts).

> Title from "City Kids" by Flyleaf

**SPRING**

* * *

Josie stepped out onto the Parnassus balcony for some air. She’d never known the grand house to seem crowded before, but it seemed that everyone had turned out to wish Bess well.

One more of the old crowd, all grown up and engaged to be married. 

Someone was already leaning against the balcony, and Josie began to step back into the house, in case she was interrupting something. But the figure turned around, and it was only Nan.

Josie joined her in leaning against the railing, breathing in the cool, sweet-smelling air. “I’ll be glad when all this fuss is over,” she said.

“As if you won’t be twice as bad when it’s your turn.” Nan laughed, not unkindly.

Josie sniffed. “I’ve decided you have the right of it. I’m not going to get married at all.”

Nan gave a sharp nod. “Good for you. More women should put their careers first.”

Josie wasn’t sure that’s what she’d meant, but it seemed close enough. No use arguing with Nan.

* * *

**SUMMER**

* * *

Nan was waiting at the stage door with a bouquet.

“Am I your only admirer tonight?” she asked, handing the flowers to Josie.

They were just wildflowers, the kind they’d picked around Plumfield growing up, tied with a bit of ribbon. And Josie already had enough flowers at home to fill up a hothouse. But the sight of them warmed Josie’s heart.

“Demi and Alice came last night, and Mother and Daisy and all the rest came the night before.” She hooked her arm through Nan’s, and the two of them began to amble away from the theater and down the street.

“I would’ve come then, but I had a patient who— well, you probably don’t want to hear the details,” Nan said, seeing Josie’s face. “Anyway, you were positively brilliant.”

Josie blushed, looking away. “Really? I mean, it’s not much of a part—”

“Well, you’ve got to start somewhere,” Nan said, quite practically.

“That’s what Aunt Jo said.” Josie looked down the crowed street. “We’re almost to mine.” She looked to Nan. “I’m sure Mother will have a late supper for me— won’t you come in?”

Nan smiled. “I’d love to.”

* * *

**AUTUMN**

* * *

Aunt Amy and Aunt Jo had gotten up the idea for a costume party, and Parnassus looked absolutely splendid. 

Josie herself was dressed as Titania, Queen of the Fairies, in a pale green dress and the last of the autumn flowers woven through her hair. She’d already spotted Aunt Amy, as Venus, and Teddy as a cowboy, and she knew the rest of her family and friends were all there.

She was about to set off into the crowd, looking for someone to talk to, when Nan appeared, dressed as Night. She wore a dark blue dress, with a scarf of blue and silver, and hair ornament of silver stars.

“You look— nice,” Nan said.

“Oh, is that all?” Josie laughed, and Nan smiled. “You look absolutely lovely, by the way.”

Nan ducked her head, and Josie caught the rare hint of a blush. “Walk with me?” 

Arms hooked together, the two of them walked around the party together, greeting their friends and admiring their costumes. Eventually, the two of them stepped outside into the garden to get some air.

The flowers out here were fading, but they hadn’t all died yet, and the autumn leaves still hanging on the trees put Josie in mind of the years she had spent playing in the nearby forest and meadows with her cousins and classmates.

She sighed, a bit wistfully, and Nan looked at her.

“Alright, Josie?” she asked.

The light spilling out from Parnassus caught Nan’s face, and Josie’s breath caught in her throat. Nan wasn’t a great beauty— neither of them were— but tonight, with stars in her dark hair and the force of her attention turned fully on Josie, she looked positively striking. 

Josie was struck with the impulse to kiss Nan, just to see what it was like. She’d never been very good at resisting her impulses.

Nan’s lips were soft. That was the first thing Josie noticed. And then Nan kissed her back, pulling her closer, and Josie couldn’t think about anything else.

* * *

**WINTER**

* * *

There was nothing more awful than being sick on Christmas.

“Are you certain you’ll be alright?” Mother asked. She’d fussed over Josie all day, but Josie had assured her that there was no reason for her to miss out on Christmas, too.

“Of course I will be.” Josie mustered up a smile. “I just need rest.”

Mother kissed her on the forehead.

Josie fell back in bed and listened as her mother bustled out of the house. At least now she could be comfortably miserable alone.

She’d been truly sick earlier in the week, but she’d been getting better for a few days— long enough that she’d hoped to make it to Christmas at Plumfield.

Christmas at Plumfield was always an event: the family, all together, and a large dinner, and everyone sitting around the fire and exchanging gifts afterwards. And at the end, she would sneak away and kiss Nan.

They’d been doing that a lot lately. Josie’d never thought much about kissing before, but she quite liked kissing Nan.

But instead of any of that, she was going to spend the day alone and miserable, sleeping off the last of this illness.

Some time later, Josie woke with a start. She sat up, blinking, wondering what had woken her.

There were some soft footsteps in the hall, then a familiar head poked into Josie’s room. 

“You’re awake,” Nan said softly.

“What are you doing here?’ Josie asked.

Nan stepped into the room, hands still in her coat pockets. “I slipped away for a bit. I wanted to see you.”

Josie couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. “Well, I suppose it’s only fitting,” she said. “Since you _are_ a doctor.”

Nan smiled broadly, and sat down on the bed next to Josie. 

“Besides,” she said, “if I didn’t stop by, when would I have been able to give you this?” Nan pulled a small package out of her pocket and handed it to Josie.

Josie coughed into her handkerchief, then pointed to one of her drawers. “There’s one in there for you. We can open them together.”

As Nan dug out her own present, Josie turned over the one Nan had given her. The wrapping was plain, but it was crisp and neat— a contrast to Josie’s own hurried, but fanciful wrapping.

Nan rejoined her on the bed— and if Josie were a bit less sick, she’d certainly have some thoughts about Nan being _right there in bed with her_— and with a shared look, the two of them began opening the gifts.

Josie tore off the paper and opened the box, and lifted out a small gold ring, with the design of a swallow and a crescent moon.

“It’s beautiful,” she said. 

Nan, meanwhile, had pulled her own gift— a small brooch with a swallow engraved on it— out of its packaging. “It’s perfect.”

“It won’t get in the way of your doctoring,” Josie said.

Nan pulled her close and kissed her softly. 

Josie pulled away. “You’re going to get sick if you kiss me!”

“I don’t care,” Nan said, kissing Josie again.

* * *

**SPRING, AGAIN**

* * *

Bess’s wedding was perfect. Josie and Daisy both stood up beside their cousin as her bridesmaids, and Josie spotted a few tears— probably of joy— from Aunt Amy and Uncle Laurie.

Josie dodged three well-meaning family members, asking her about her own romantic prospects, and sat next to Nan at the wedding luncheon, who seemed quite sanguine with all of the day’s sentimentality. 

“I’ve changed my mind,” Nan said.

Josie tilted her head. “About what?”

“Marriage.”

Josie almost knocked over her glass in surprise. “What?”

“Oh! Not like—” Nan grabbed Josie’s hand. “I just meant— spending your life with a person might not be so bad. If they’re the right person.”

Josie was overcome with the desire to embrace Nan. But they were in public, so she showed some decorum— for once in her life— and restrained herself to squeezing Nan’s hand.

“Nan,” she said in a low voice. “Are you saying you would marry me?”

Nan ducked her head a bit. “We would do well together, I think, like husband and wife.”

Josie smiled at her. “If I ever convince my mother to move in with one of the aunts or my siblings instead…”

Nan squeezed Josie’s hand tightly, and smiled. All around them, their family and friends continued the celebration.

It seemed like a good omen for the things to come.

**Author's Note:**

> Nan's costume is inspired by real costumes from the late 1800s.
> 
> The jewelry Nan and Josie give each other is also inspired by real jewelry from the late 1800s. Swallows mate for life, and sweethearts often gave each other jewelry with swallows on it. (The swallow symbolism might have been a bit old-fashioned by Nan and Josie's time, but I loved it too much not to include it.)
> 
> Meanwhile, "Boston Marriage" as a slang term for two women living together as partners (either out of financial necessity or they hadn't found a husband or they were queer or some combination) entered the lexicon in 1886. I'M JUST SAYING.


End file.
